points of view
>> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.corn
Editorial
Commentary
Synagogues Must Reach
Out To The Uninspired
New York/JTA
A
few months back, I saw Moneyball, a
film about a creative re-imagination
of Major League Baseball. In my
favorite scene, Billy Beane, the legendary gener-
al manager of the Oakland Athletics, challenges
his scouts to think differently about the game
if they are to have any chance at success. Beane
declares, "Adapt or die These words haven't
stopped echoing in my head.
In this new era of Jewish life — an era
defined for many by the abundance of choices
we face in every aspect of our lives
— our synagogues must adapt or
risk becoming ossified. Synagogue
life is too important to be entrusted
solely to those who already are with-
in congregational walls. We must,
emphatically, expand the notion of
what a synagogue means. That's the
path being blazed by the Union for
Reform Judaism and others seeking
to widen the embrace of Jewish life.
Today, less than 50 percent of
American Jews are synagogue mem-
bers. The fastest-growing group in
the Jewish community is what we too often call
the "the unaffiliated." The term, of course, puts
the onus on them. I prefer to call that group
"the uninspired;" it's our job to inspire and help
them find their place in the Jewish community.
How? By re-orientating our synagogues to
address the needs of this group. Most of the
time the synagogue is not reaching them.
Synagogues must speak to the soul; they must
challenge and educate.
Extending The Synagogue
Against a secular culture that places each
individual at the center of the universe, we can
choose to be part of something larger than
just ourselves. Taking responsibility for others
lifts us out of the indulgence and narrowness
of self and connects us to a world of meaning
and purpose. Rebuilding broken lives in the
developing world is surely a part of our sacred
calling, as is caring for our Jewish elders in
Brighton Beach or the Ethiopian Jewish girl liv-
ing in Beersheva amid rocket fire from Gaza.
Synagogues must be places where we extend
ourselves to people we don't know. It is easier to
associate only with those who are just like us,
but being part of a sacred community makes us
responsible for those who think, earn, practice
and vote differently than we do. That is how our
souls get stretched beyond their narrow reach.
Making Walls Resonate
Synagogues must reassess their focus on what
happens outside their walls. Young Jews on the
outside are not knocking on the door. It is our
collective responsibility and challenge to reach
them by breaking down the synagogue walls
and engaging them, wherever they may be.
A growing network of urban congrega-
tions — including Temple Israel in Boston,
Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco and
Temple Emanu-El in Dallas — are doing just
that. In Atlanta, St. Louis, Washington, Miami
and elsewhere, Reform congregations are going
where young people are — to coffee shops and
bars, gyms and apartments. Congregation Beth
Elohim in Brooklyn, N.Y., sponsors Shabbat in
the 'Hood. Unaffiliated Jews host a
young rabbi in their homes for a fes-
tive and educational Shabbat dinner.
When I served as the senior rabbi
at Westchester Reform Temple in
Scarsdale, N.Y., we hired a rab-
binic intern from the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion
and told him never to step inside the
temple. We knew that most of our
young people weren't in the syna-
gogue or even in the suburban neigh-
borhood anymore; they were seeking
new lives and careers in New York
City, and that's where they needed to be found.
Embracing The Horizon
A bright Jewish future requires us to widen our
circles of responsibility and geography. We must
create a web of mutual extension that begins
in the congregation and, in theory, is limit-
less. That web is something that our morning
service calls elu d'varim she'ein lahem shiyur
— the things that have no boundaries, no lim-
its because the good they do goes on, making
individuals into congregations, congregations
into movements, movements into one united
Jewish people and the Jewish people into a
force for good and for God — everywhere. The
congregation is simply, and crucially, where the
"me to we" begins.
In his commentary on Leviticus, the great
scholar Nachmanides wonders why God had to
summon Moses to enter the first praying place.
His answer imagines that Moses hesitated to
enter because he was intimidated by the holi-
ness of the ancient Mishkan, or Tabernacle.
Today, too many of our people remain out-
side the walls of our synagogues sometimes
intimidated, but even more often simply unin-
spired.
We can change; we can adapt the enduring
institution to this dramatic moment in Jewish
history.
What are we waiting for? ❑
Rabbi Rick Jacobs is president of the Union for
WSU's TechTown An
Entrepreneurial Spur
ethodically and with
promise, TechTown – no
stranger to the Jewish
community – has improved the
Nt,Ci Itt q. 04b Ytek044 OCit PAet
economic landscape of Southeast
Michigan. The Wayne State Research
TEC ltStrs. HTOWN
Ant, ,,.eiAns. tn-n A-m'c
& Technology Park holds a pivotal
part in any discussion about how to
revitalize Detroit, ur financially distressed regional core.
TechTown emerged in 2000 when Wayne State University,
General Motors Corp. and the Henry Ford Health System developed
this local and statewide engine of economic opportunity. Today, it
supports 250 companies in industries ranging from life sciences
and advanced manufacturing to the arts and alternative energy.
The launch pad: a 100,00-square-foot facility on the edge of WSU in
Detroit's Midtown District.
Since 2007, the small-business incubator has extended support
to 647 companies, which have created 1,085 jobs. In a down econo-
my, such job creation can't be diminished. Still, TechTown remains a
work in progress with endless possibilities.
Consider what TechTown has accomplished so far:
• Training for 2,200 entrepreneurs since 2008;
• Incentive for active and graduate clients to produce a combined
$52 million in revenue last year and $41 million in revenue in 2010;
• Investment of $790,000 in client companies through the
TechTown Loan Fund and the Thrive One Fund for minority- and
women-owned businesses.
In 2011, TechTown graduated 62 executives in training through
Michigan Shifting Gears, a program created by the Michigan
Economic Development Corporation to return former high-level
corporate executives to the workforce. Volunteer mentors have
dedicated more than 4,000 hours of coaching to TechTown startups
since 2008 – advice valued at more than $400,000.
Jewish entrepreneurs and business mentors are integral to the
continued success and growth of TechTown, which also certainly
can assist Israeli companies entering the U.S. market.
In 2009, TechTown formed a partnership with Hebrew Free Loan
of Metropolitan Detroit (HFL) to help retain Jewish entrepreneurs
in Southeast Michigan. HFL has funded two TechTown-inspired
loans totaling $37,000 through its Marvin I. Danto Small Business
Loan Program, which serves Jewish entrepreneurs from multiple
regional channels. Recipients of TechTown-inspired HFL loans tap
into TechTown's SmartStart program and its array of consultants
for mentoring, product development, business planning, marketing,
basic business operations and office space. TechTown recommends
other funding sources beyond the HFL cap on Danto loans.
It is no surprise Wayne State's The Front Door, the university's
gateway to research, training, technology and business develop-
ment, is based at TechTown. Nor is it surprising TechTown initiated
International Soft Landings, a suite of services to assist countries,
such as Israel, seeking business expansion to Michigan and else-
where in North America.
Further, the Wayne State technology commercialization team
actively promotes partnerships between WSU researchers and the
private sector through entrepreneurial initiatives such as TechTown
and E2 Detroit.
From Jewish donors to Jewish alumni, and Jewish faculty to
Jewish board members and upwards of 600 Jewish students,
Wayne State resonates in the Detroit Jewish community. The
university – and, by extension, its economic driver TechTown –
certainly matters as well to the economic vitality of Southeast
Michigan.
i.
❑
Reform Judaism.
April12 ' 2012
31